Beware! This is an offshore broker! Your investment may be at risk.
RECOMMENDED FOREX BROKERS
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Open trading accounts with at least two brokers.
UMOFX is a forex and CFD broker based in New Zealand. Although it is currently not regulated, the company leaves a good overall impression for two reasons. First, its trading conditions are presented clearly and in detail. Second, its offer seems quite good.
Clients of UMOFX are offered trading on the most popular forex platform, the MetaTrader 4. They can choose between fixed and variable spreads, which vary by account types, but are in line with the average for the sector. Besides, the broker has not set a minimum deposit requirement for its two Mini accounts, so clients can start out with just a couple of bucks, and use leverage up to 1:1000, which basically is the maximum you can find on the market. Speaking of leverage, you can check out our list of brokers offering leverage of 1:100 or more.
UMOFX Regulation & Safety of Funds
As we said earlier, this broker is not regulated. We are not sure which company is operating the brand, as there are two firms mentioned on its website: UMOFX CO. LIMITED (mentioned at the bottom of the home page), and United Market Oracle International Limited (featuring in the Client agreement). The first one is not present in the Financial Service Providers Register (FSPR) of the New Zealand, while the second one had been deregistered in 2015.
On the other hand, it seems that the broker is working on getting a license, so maybe the brand has been transferred from United Market Oracle International Limited to UMOFX CO. LIMITED. Nonetheless, we would advise our readers not to open an account with UMOFX, as it currently does not hold a valid forex broker license, and we found some pretty negative user reviews from a couple of years ago. Instead, we suggest that you select among our list of forex brokers licensed by ASIC – one of the world’s top financial regulators.
UMOFX Deposit/Withdrawal Methods and Fees
UMOFX offers wide range of payment methods to its clients: bank wire transfer, credit cards, as well as a number of popular e-payment systems: Skrill, Neteller, FasaPAy, CashU, and Perfect Money. The broker has specified all the applicable fees for deposits and withdrawals, so anyone can check them out on the broker’s website.
How does scam work?
One of the reasons why we focus on forex broker regulation is that scam happens quite often in the trading world. So, in order to keep you informed and well-prepared, we will tell you how a typical scam works.
Most often, investment scammers get potential victims’ contact information via various online “get rich now” ads. Then they start calling them, making some exclusive trading offers. Most of their sales pitches are rather convincing and many will decide to give it a try and deposit some $200-250. Indeed, this is not a big sum of money, but it is just the beginning. After the Sales department has gotten an investor into the game, he or she is being contacted by a Senior Adviser from the Retention. The latter will sweet-talk the victim into depositing a bigger sum. At this point investors have gained some confidence as their initial deposit has doubled or tripled and is very likely that they deposit more, some even $10k. Keep in mind that scammers on all levels get fat commissions from each investment victims make.
At some point investors start losing money or become suspicious and wish to close the account and cash out. This is when things get really dirty.
The “recovery” department is in charge of stonewalling investors who wish to withdraw, and they will try to do it for months on end. If six months expire from the deposit date, you can no longer file a chargeback with your bank and get your money back.
What to do if scammed?
The first thing to do when you have been scammed, is to contact your bank or credit card provider and file a chargeback. As we mentioned above, you can do that only within six months from the date of the initial deposit.
If, however, you have provided the broker with your credit card details, you should immediately cancel it.
Also, in case you have given information regarding your online banking pass or provided the “broker” with access to your computer via TeamViewer, you should change it asap!